September 1
Matthew 5: 4:
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Have you ever thanked the Lord because he
made you to mourn? We usually consider that we have been blessed when things go
the way we want them to go, when we are happy. But the Lord Jesus Christ says,
"Blessed are they that mourn."
This world gives the believer many
reasons to mourn. We mourn the death of loved ones. Often unkind words or deeds
spoken by us, or spoken by someone to us, may cause us to mourn. We are brought
to grieve often in our necessary dealings in this world.
Yet, as sorrowful as those things
are that is not why the blessed person mourns. Those who are blessed of God are
those in whom the Holy Spirit has created a new spirit (v3.) In that new spirit
we are made to behold how poor we are in ourselves, in trespasses and in sins.
The mourning of the blessed man is over his sin which he knows he is (Ps 38:
17, 18.)
All sorrow is traced directly or
indirectly to sin but what makes sin so exceedingly sinful to those who are
blessed is that we know that our sin is against our holy, loving and gracious
God who has shown us only goodness all our days (Ps 51:4.) Those who are
blessed mourn the fact that it is "my" sins for which Christ suffered
(Is 53: 4, 5; Zec 12: 10.) But wait! Knowing that our sin is ever before us,
that our sin is constantly mixed with everything we do, and that our sin so
often brings us into the depths of sorrow how then is it that the blessed man
is comforted? It is because “with his stripes we are healed.” (Is 53: 5)
Only the true sinner, who truly mourns his
sins, is drawn by God to cast his care on Christ; only the sinner casting his
care on Christ is made the righteousness of God in Christ; only our Lord Jesus
Christ can produce tears of sorrow then turn them into tears of joy. Oh, how
true it is! Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.